Dare to Dream with Kim Alexis Newton

Kim Alexis Newton
“I think that’s the dilemma that a lot of us ladies, especially those who are hard charging and high powered, that we tend to make these decisions because they’re the thing that we should do. But they’re not always the thing we could do. And I want a life full of more coulds than shoulds.”
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Kim Alexis Newton
Hey Priscilla

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Hey

Kim Alexis Newton
Good morning and goodnight..

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yes, happening simultaneously all over the world.

Kim Alexis Newton
I’m sorry, I’m running a bit late.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
It’s okay. I mean I’m one of those people who find it really baffling that we all can agree, generally speaking to meet at certain times, like really specific times because so much happens in life. That is just like out of our control and I think it’s really amazing when anyone shows up like right on the dot and like this is nothing short of miraculous. In honor of you, I was waiting and I thought, Okay, I’ll just check some emails. And then I was like, No, I’m gonna stop and take an intentional pause, really, so thank you for that because I don’t always have the time or the discipline.

Kim Alexis Newton
yes, well I need to read my own book sometimes

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
yeah, they say that you know, usually the advice you give is what you need to hear

Kim Alexis Newton
but I literally wrote that book for myself too.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Hi listeners, Welcome to Voices of Athena, your podcast highlighting the personal side of the successful women of the Athena Alliance community. Today I am talking with Kim Alexis Newton. We were just referencing her book and program The Intentional Pause™, helping women to embrace pausing with intention, to achieve their dreams. So…What is your dream? Can you visualize it coming to fruition? What does it feel like? Take a deep breath right into the belly, hold that thought, sit in that feeling and when you are ready, release the breath and the intention. Watch it fill up the space around you…Ok, let’s dive back in and hear Kim’s strategy for making dreams come true.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I’d first like to ask you how you would introduce yourself.

Kim Alexis Newton
So you know, that’s been an adjustment for me, because I’ve always introduced myself as you know, a title or by what I’ve done, you know, and now I live a portfolio lifestyle. So I have to kind of pick it, I would say I would describe myself as kind of like a whole brain person. I have this left brain side of me and this right brain side of me. I’m starting to appreciate both of them. I’m in such a different way so embracing my creativity as much as my business side. And so I do a lot of things now. I’ve written a book, I started a company, I sit on the board. And so I you know had to sit down and really think about what is my purpose? What’s the thread that ties all the things I do together? And it’s really about helping people and organizations meet their full potential. And I believe you know, most of my career has been in marketing and strategy and now in the quarter. I have a number of things. So I really want to help people with the emotional journeys of life. And I think there’s so many parts of business that are emotional and coming from strategy knowing it’s a set of decisions made up of your personal strategy or business strategy. It’s actually pretty emotional decision. So, you know, I help people with the emotional journeys of life and I want people in organizations getting their full potential, and I bring my creativity to that and I bring my business mind to that.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
here’s what they were saying about me wrote that book that you needed to hear and then you say, you’re helping others meet their full potential. And in doing that, maybe it’s helped you unravel and appreciate your full potential, which is all these different things. And that you like just that ability to acknowledge it, acknowledge it, but explore it. And I assume you’ve probably surprised yourself a lot along the way. Like even though you’d say I’m like a quilt maker.

Kim Alexis Newton
I think to be able to embrace all the sides of yourself and not allow one to lead. I think is, is the is the lesson that I’ve gotten in this season of life. You know, there there is no one way to define me and there’s no one way to define what I do. You know, people want it to be very neat. Sometimes I do too, but I you know, I have all these different sides of me and I I think the world needs people to embrace more sides of themselves and honor each of them, you know? So yeah,

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
definitely an effort to be healthier. We talk about mindfulness and wellness and mental health. Because so often, especially in our professional selves were told me directly or indirectly to the parts of ourselves out there that some parts are valued over others. And so it’s even radical. To be able to speak in this way, and be a leader who says that this is a mission of incorporating wholesale.

Kim Alexis Newton
I remember I was interviewing, interviewing for boards. I had someone who I respect greatly and I know she said it flippantly but she was like, oh, let’s just leave that. Part out, like artists in the boardroom faster. You know, that was that was like, man, like, actually, I think bringing a creative mind to solving problems really helps. You know, it doesn’t diminish my business ability. The fact that I have a creative side, you know, and so I think putting people in boxes is that’s what I love about Athena, you know, is it really is helping people think differently about how we get things done, and who gets them done, and how we educate ourselves.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
absolutely. And I love that you said that because I recently removed birth worker from my LinkedIn because I haven’t been active doula since my son was born. My first son because I can’t be on call for 24 hours. But you know, I still teach prenatal and I’m still like, constantly being sought out for advice in that way. And and I removed it like I kind of hesitantly I’ll say she was like, I don’t know how this fits into the rest of the story. And it’s interesting because it like ate at me for like a week and a half and then I went just put it back in there and I was like, No, it definitely fits into the story. It means

Kim Alexis Newton
that show nurture you’re a developer, you’re a coach. I mean, come on.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yea and holding space for the sacred. Yeah. Which is just among the the work that I’m most proud humbled to be less to do. So it’s okay if it doesn’t sit next to these other titles. Like you said, I feel that this actually is an added bonus. That’s my cherry on the top. Thank you for that.

Please tell me about something or someone who inspires you?

Kim Alexis Newton
You know, I think that’s a great question. There’s so many people who inspire me daily. So my daughter teaches me a lot of lessons. You know, she’s 16 now. And she has me thinking about why I say the things I do, why decide the way I do? And that’s, that’s actually inspiring in a lot of ways. My husband has always, you know, helped me bring out like, the best in myself. So I appreciate that. So there are those that I live with. My mom and dad have been huge in my life. So my family has always been a huge point of inspiration. For making me be better get better want to be better. When I think about things that inspire me, I love helping people like I get a lot of energy out of inspiring people. May that be through a conversation where they’re thinking differently about their life or a choice. You know, I make quilts. You know, I have this business where I make quilts and so I get stories about how the quilts help people and that really inspires me and it drives me to want to do more of what I’m doing. But you know, so I guess the external stuff has to do with inspiration and knowing that I’m making a difference. But I’m also inspired by those who humbled me and keep me honest

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Challenge your beliefs and your routines like your daughter, and we need fresh blood to say, and to have that honest self reflection and be like, Wait, why do I do that? And it’s so great to have that right because there are so many times we get stuck in areas in our life. We get stuck on autopilot without those people in our lives. We wouldn’t even be able to see it.

Kim Alexis Newton
Yes. And I talked about autopilot. I talked about autopilot all the time, actually, as taking an intentional pause. To get you out of out of autopilot because it’s it’s really not a strategy to let somebody else or something else drive your life. You know, so I love that you said that.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yeah, even to be aware that some thing or someone else’s striving, you know, like that. Like I’ve done a lot of work around to voice your voice and like what is the voice in your head? Who is it? Is it you? Is a how often is it you? Is it 80% You is it 80% your over critical mother is it you know what I mean? Like wherever raises yours, they belong to you. And it’s it’s remarkable to think without kind of that reflection. How many people are not living their own lives really.

Kim Alexis Newton
Totally and you know, I did research on that and like with ambitious women and 50 I want to say 36% of 36% of women were actually following their dreams and doing what they want to do. And fear was by far the number one reason and you know, it just we all have them right? But we’ve got to we’ve got to be able to manage them. And that’s where inspiration comes in. And that’s why it’s a great question.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Thank you. On to the next question, what is your biggest fear?

Kim Alexis Newton
Yeah, so my biggest fear is and this won’t be a surprise there’s a theme here, not meeting my own potential. And not helping my daughter meet her. It’s obviously she’s an independent thinker and she’s gonna have to make her own decisions. But, you know, back to what I just shared about fear. Oftentimes, we hold ourselves back and we are in our own way. And I I really think that it’s important to push, push yourself to do things that are out of your comfort zone and learn differently. And, you know, do things that you’re uniquely positioned to do, and every experience kind of changes that. And so, I totally know that there’s more in the world I need to be doing and how I inspire myself and push myself to do that every day is the challenge. And yeah, that is that is a fear of mine. Not not doing all the things that I know I could.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Is there is there something right now in particular that you wish you were spending more time with?

Kim Alexis Newton
Well, I think the shift for me and being an entrepreneur, there’s, you know, you have to kind of put yourself out there and add an artist like you know, I’m putting I feel like I’m putting more of myself out in the world than I ever have. And I think some of that is very good and easy. And other parts are really hard. You know, to you know, I’m not a trained artists, right. So the idea of putting my artwork out there, I just finished a commission and it went to a really, really amazing art collector, and I saw our collection and I was like what is going on? And you know, she appreciated my piece, which was amazing, but I was like, wow, this is crazy. You know that I’m sitting here just a couple years out of corporate and selling my artwork to people who collect art, you know, it’s it’s, it’s really

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
and I belong here.

Kim Alexis Newton
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And convincing myself I belong when I have a moment where I forget that, you know, I believe it’s my job. I helped mentor lots of people that, you know, of course, you’re supposed to be there, you know, it’s ordered, you know, but sometimes we forget and just trying to remind myself all the time. Is is fun and challenging. Just to be honest.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yeah, I can appreciate that. I know what that feels like. What song are you singing karaoke?

Kim Alexis Newton
Oh man, so anything Prince I remember when Prince died it was so funny. My my daughter played all of his songs that I had on this long playlist and I knew all the words like the first few minutes the first few lines so I love love prints and then I love really inspirational songs. I tried to listen to one a day and conquer by a still is an amazing song. It always gives me such great vibes, you know, and gives me the energy I need to kind of conquer a day or conquer whatever’s in front of me so that that is a good good thing, but by the way, you don’t want me singing karaoke, but you need another partner

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
like to when are you when you’re listening? Are you seeing like, Are you somebody who’s

Kim Alexis Newton
Oh, I do. Yeah, I do. See when I know that I’m not in too many people’s at your shops. So, but I have become a Hummer because I know I have other talents.

Kim Alexis Newton
Now you know, one of the things I do do to those who are close to me, I call and I sing happy birthday. And so I can actually do a pretty decent Happy birthday but everything

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Are you doing like traditional like are you doing like Stevie Wonder, oh, I do the traditional,

Kim Alexis Newton
the whole song. You know this to make them feel special? Because it’s definitely not something I do so

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I do i i I’m one of those people who also gives uncomfortably long hugs and so I do an uncomfortably long happy birthday song because I do the traditional version, then I do the Stevie Wonder version. So I love knowing that you are gifting that to people especially when you feel shy about your voice because it is really just a wholesome thing to experience.

Kim Alexis Newton
It is so funny is that? You know if I skip a year people are like, where’s my birthday saw? I’m like, oh, there you’re one of the people that sing it to me. So that’s a good thing. I’m happy to know we had that in common.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
So who needs karaoke when you got a year a year? An annual one on one concert?

Kim Alexis Newton
Right? Right.

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Priscilla Brenenstuhl
What is the most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Kim Alexis Newton
You know, as I think about this question, I do think not going back to when I left corporate America. And kind of like the top of my career to shift to an entrepreneur is, I think, really uncharted territory for me. So I’m actually very proud of myself for doing that and doing something that I’ve always wanted to do. Because the easy path would have been to just go back and do more of what I’ve been doing, and then sharing my artwork. I think that’s also something that I find very vulnerable. Times. And so, you know, just pivoting and changing my life the way that I have to do so many different things. It just, it kind of aligns with the theme of what I’ve been talking about, but, you know, the easy path would have been to go and get another corporate job for me. And, yeah, so it’s, it’s, it’s been it’s been quite the ride, and I’m very happy and very proud of myself that I’ve done it but it was it was a risk. And I’ve had great success. You know I feel like there’s so much more to do but I feel you know, when I when I left, I took some time to think about what I really wanted to do. And I advised some people that I respect that call it my walk about I wouldn’t ask people about making big decisions and how they decide just getting all kinds of input and who was who I now call a friend Carla Harris, who was at Morgan Stanley. At the time, someone I have admired career wise but hadn’t met formally sat down with me and she said you know, why not take a bet on yourself for at least 18 months and you’ll learn so much on that ride. But pay attention to how things happen because they’re indications if you’re on the right path, and there were so many indications I was on the right path. So it felt like a really big risk at the time. But I hung on to those validating moments that I was on the right path, and they still happen. So I’m grateful for that. Really, really grateful.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
And is it another kind of risk to like, not explore those things. Stay on easy path, and then risk like never knowing or discovering all these other elements of yourself or all these other things that you’re capable of doing and different people that you can meet

Kim Alexis Newton
yes

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
that’s a whole other.

Kim Alexis Newton
Well, that’s why I talk about autopilot a lot, you know, because you can be actively making choices to invest in your career and doing the things that you think you should be doing in your head which you know, can turn into an amazing career, right? You could be CEO running a company, but if you have the desire, you know, in your heart in a dream inside of you, you know to go off and do something else, then you know, you’re making great decisions. Somewhat maybe not even on autopilot but in your head but you’re not listening to your heart and, and I think that’s that’s the dilemma that a lot of us ladies, especially those who are hard charging and high powered and we know that that we tend to make these decisions because they’re the thing that we should do. But they’re not always the thing we could do. And I want a life full of more coulds than shoulds and yeah, so that’s that’s that’s why I talk about autopilot is not a strategy.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
It’s like the Hokey Pokey. You got to put your whole self in.

Kim Alexis Newton
Yes. That’s right. That’s right. So true

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
this next question feels a little bit misguided in the way that because I usually ask, if not your current professional would you be doing and you have all of these things that you’re doing? So I don’t know. Perhaps a better question is, what’s next?

Kim Alexis Newton
You know, I think I mentioned one of the things I’ve latched on to as being, you know, at least as an input around, what you should do next is considering the thing you’re uniquely positioned to do. And so like, I’ve been in business most of my life and then I have this artistic side where I quilt, and then I’ve been uniquely positioned to have a gift quilting company that inspires people, right, and provide comfort and tough times. So I think I’m uniquely positioned to do that. But now I’m I’m an I’m, I’m an entrepreneur, and I’m, you know, a board member. And so, what’s next is what I’ll be uniquely positioned to do because of this experience, you know, and so I want to grow my business. I love the board work. I do. I think it is really fun and interesting. And I want to grow in that regard too. So I think I just want to do more and impact more people and more. Have more experiences with you know, the portfolio of things I’m doing right now, because I am following my dreams like this is the stuff that I wanted to do. I wrote my first business plan when my kid was in my tummy. I told them she was 16 Right so I’m doing it now. And you know, I just want to I just want to continue down the path and but I’m always open. You know, I think that’s really important too, is that you know these indicators and considering what else you could be doing part of the process. So who knows, you know, the best laid plans.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
That’s right. Well, it’s definitely very exciting to hear about all you’re doing and to I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for how it evolves. Because you have so many interesting things are happening and I’m a fan of so many of the things the artwork and the intentional pause and the quilts and all of those things. Are so purposeful.

Kim Alexis Newton
Well, thank you

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
My last question, while my last written question I’m sure there’ll be more that come up organically. Please tell me him about a life changing or life affirming moment.

Kim Alexis Newton
So, I’d like to tell you to, of course, because I’ve adapted the question, but I growing up in fourth grade, this was an experience with my fourth grade, I had to do a report on Tennessee, the state of Tennessee, which both of my parents are from Tennessee, and I had waited until the very last day. And my mom and I had done some little report and it was probably two pages written and my mom was like, oh, no, this is not what we do. And honestly, Priscilla, we stayed up almost all night, like, fourth grade, there was probably 1am But it was all night to me, right. And we took the time to draw things and you know, cut out you know, stay flat flag and and by the end I had this like 20 Page amazing. Report on Tennessee. Wouldn’t have it. I still oh my gosh, but what I learned through that process was just the end. I got it, you know, and, and I learned so much obviously from my mom on, you know, just putting in the effort but the reward I got from my teacher probably a therapist about it, but I’m sure it’s driven me a lot because I saw the outcome of actually putting effort into something and the benefit of putting effort in something and so that was really quite I think that like changed my personality.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Like what’s possible yes. And I get to choose either part of myself or my whole self and and like, what’s the difference?

Kim Alexis Newton
Yeah.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Wow, such a great learning thing from your mom.

Kim Alexis Newton
I’m also very fresh under pressure. So I did figure that out, too. So I do I do my a lot of my best work. You know, at the end but the other one I would mention is when I left corporate and I shared with you that I had talked to people and my my friend, Carla Harris had said to me, you know, pay attention to how things happen. Well, I was just going to I was going to do an art show. While I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. And so I was talking to a good friend of mine, Mindy Grossman, who at the time was over WW, and she was giving me amazing advice and she told me things like revisit resisting the familiar. Resist the familiar Kim, you know, just tried to branch out and at the end I told her I was gonna have an art show. She goes I didn’t even know you were an artist. Show me one and I showed it to her and she said I have to buy this for Oprah for her birthday. And I had never, ever sold a piece of my artwork. I have been doing it for 20 years. It was really for me. A lot of my quotes had words on them. And I said, Oh, no, no, no, I’ll make you a quote for Oprah. Because honestly, deep down inside, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to sell. And she goes, No, no, I want this one. And so my first quilt that I ever sold, belongs to Oprah. I don’t know where it is. And that’s okay. Because it was a life affirming moment for me

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yea, that’s some confirmation.

Kim Alexis Newton
She invited me along. Yeah, she invited me along. So I got to meet Oprah when she gave it to her. But the thing that I’ve never told anybody about that moment, is that one year ago to that date, on the exact same date, 365 days before I was in a meeting for work and it was the time that I had been the most disrespected in my role as a woman. It was just it was a really contentious meeting. And I handled myself well. My boss at the time who was the CEO came and said, Man, you handled yourself really well. But I just thought wow, look at me a year later. And like meeting Oprah for a piece of artwork. And I was in this situation where you know, you know and a lot of people don’t talk about these moments at work or microaggressions or what you know, we’re having more conversations about them, but I’ve never been through anything like that before. And and what a validating moment that you know, I was out of that situation and that I was here in this moment. And I was on the right path, you know?

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Being Valued and appreciated.

Kim Alexis Newton
yes. And so, yeah, I don’t think I’ve told that story before but I just I looked at the date

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
and I was like a lot can happen in a year. So cool. Yeah.

Kim Alexis Newton
So I thought it was I thought it was really very symbolic. And to your point, it was good. The Oprah Oprah is amazing. Of course, and she is she does inspire me. But it was it was a very affirming moment for me, personally, so. Yeah,

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
that’s so awesome. That’s such a great story. Thank you for sharing that with me. Sure. Never heard before behind the scenes Yeah
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Priscilla Brenenstuhl
In addition to being a very successful quilt-maker, artist, author and creator of the Intentional Pause, Kim is board member and global marketing executive. Clearly, this is a list is likely to keep growing.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Kim, is there anything else that you would like to share or feel like you we’ve missed or that’s on your mind?

Kim Alexis Newton
You know, I think I think following your dreams is really important. And, you know, listening to your head, is what we’re good at. And when I say we, I mean ambitious women, you know, that’s where I you know, do a lot of my research and you know, following your dreams and following your heart is an option and something that you can only do yourself, and I want to encourage people to do that. And you know that I wrote the intentional pause, and it helps people develop an emotional plan because I believe a lot of people don’t follow their dreams because of the fear. And so, I call it your forest it’s your fears or obstacles, your relationships, your emotions and your self talk. And so having the emotional plan, I think is really important. Whenever it’s like you’re, you know, something that folks in business will definitely understand is you can have the most beautiful strategy but culture you know, you know, eats strategy for lunch. We say that all the time. Well, it’s it’s the same in your personal life, you know? If you are embarking upon something new. What about your own personal culture needs to change and creating that emotional plan is the thing that that helps you through and manages your give up? Because it’s not easy, you know? And I think managing give up is really, really important when when you’re doing something you’ve never done before, so I would definitely throw that in. Because I use the emotional plan all the time.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I mean, I got it gotten real visual for me in the forest acronym. I was yes cheese, what would it be like? And then I went into the artistic like if I painted what my forest felt like, yes, if I like sat in and meditated in that forest, like how green of the trees and What kind are they and how thick and how dense and what is the ground like? Is it humid there?

Kim Alexis Newton
well, you know, I actually do that. So I grew up in the bay area of San Francisco, but we spent some time traveling around and we lived in Connecticut, and in our backyard was what I call the forest. I was young. And I remember, at nighttime, I would be so afraid of it, you know, but it was my backyard. So I started to spend more and more time. And that’s what I’ve tried to tell people it’s like, of course a forest. If you’ve never been there and you’ve never explored it. It’s gonna be really scary. But once you know it, once you start to understand your fears and your obstacles in your relationships and your emotions and your habits with your self talk. It’s not as scary, you know that, that that? That branch breaking. You’re like, yeah, that’s okay. That doesn’t scare me. I know. It’s not somebody’s learning, you know,

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I know, know the map so that I can navigate it. And I know that this branch falls in this path. But you know, there’s another path that I can take

Kim Alexis Newton
yes, yeah, and I think so many of us, don’t spend the time on the emotional side of things. That that’s why things can get really scary. Yeah.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Can you said something about managing your give up that i Yes, we hold a manager give up. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Sure. Sure. So

Kim Alexis Newton
in the research I did, it was like 90, it was so 91% of women were unapologetically ambitious, and I think your number goes up to like 98% When you remove the word unapologetically, but only 36% Were following their dreams. And most people were in fear was the number one reason and they would often give up because it it it got hard. And so I really wanted to help more people follow dreams. And so I was like, How can I think about giving advice that would help people manage giving up or managing their fears, and that’s where the forest came from. Because there’s like we have smart goals. And you can set the most amazing SMART goal but oftentimes you as you know it you know, unless you write it down, there’s all the research right write it down and visited and all of that is you’re not going to reach it. And so the other component that I didn’t think people was talking about, and that’s especially when it comes to personal strategy. It’s just this idea of the emotional plan that has to go that culture that personal culture that has to go along with doing something different. And so, you know, for instance, oftentimes people give up because they don’t have the right relationships in place because the people around them who are absolutely the right people for maybe, you know, their family, they love them, but maybe they’re not the right person to have around you. When you’re following your dream. Like for instance, my husband loves me, unconditionally, which I you know, we’ve been married almost 25 years, you know, but he’s gonna love me if I follow this dream or not. So, I wanted to find people that I can also surround myself with, that have transitioned out of corporate into entrepreneurship, or you know, are sitting on boards currently, um, so I could adjust. I should also know that you know, these things are hard, and so I shouldn’t make emotional decisions. I need to sit on them longer, you know. So just going a little bit deeper into these things that usually hold us back and the things that usually keep us from moving forward and giving up because that’s what you’re doing when you’re not moving forward to giving up or taking the easy path. You’re giving up on that harder path or that dream path. So that’s why I talked about managing to give up the emotional thing and, and I wrote the book that I needed for sure. I didn’t know it at the time, but I use a lot of the principles of it for sure. More often than I ever expected.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
That’s awesome. And inspiring. And it sounds like what you were doing is like building nourishing and cultivating the forest. Like you saw the forest for what it was, and then said okay, this needs some pruning. Exactly. This nice little tree over here that’s going to remind me about this nice little thing also. Exactly, there’s like some darkness over here and I need to clip it and let some sun in and and you did that by way of you know choosing the people that you were going to let in your life. And all of those different things that you talked about so that you could really enjoy and familiarize yourself with the forest and be in it and bask in it.

Kim Alexis Newton
that’s why I think that acronym was such a gift. I had everything up on the wall. And I was like oh he’s such a fears about your relationships and your self talk and your obstacles and I was like wait a second. Fears, obstacles relationships, emotions, self talk, that’s a forest. That represents fear to me, because you know, we don’t take these paths because they seem scary and I’m like, well guess what that thing is not so scary once you get to know it. So what are your fear tendencies? What obstacles are you surely going to have because everyone who would be going on this path is going to have what relationships think about those and who needs to be around you and how you talk to yourself. Are they’re all important pieces.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
And it’s so primal in some ways, if you think about like, course not. Not everyone in history was living and anxious or living in forests, but this idea that you know, there was a time where we were inhabiting for us and then we left them before the more to chop down the trees to make more structured canopies more predictable lifestyles to set the climate and be able to really control our environment in this way, so it’s really taken on a whole new life for me as you’re saying it and become very visceral and even behind you this kind of abstract meaning that listeners aren’t here but it in this conversation it’s really transformed into a forest for me and the way that this like light is hitting it right behind your head. I don’t know. This like golden heart. It looks like the light coming in through through these and I’m just like I’ve got

Kim Alexis Newton
a year year my sister because you’re a whole brain thinker. too. So your brain the whole right brain with the left and I love it. I love it.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I really ate that all up I really I mean you took me there and I like just sat down and got my knife and fork. Yeah, and I’m gonna be visiting and I might even be it’s a long time since I painted and I might just might just pick up a paintbrush. And yeah, I am feeling inspired Kim. Thank you. You’re welcome. This conversation was super fun. And I is often called a dreamer and not always in a positive context. And I had to decide to own that no matter what someone else’s intentions were of the word. And it is a very bold thing to bring in dreams of the night into the Light of the day.

Kim Alexis Newton
to me, dreams are what innovation starts from so it’s it’s actually I call myself a dream defender. Because dreams are the very thing that all new things are different things all new ways of working new ways of thinking is where it comes from. And so if we don’t dream and we don’t allow ourselves to dream that’s why I think the world would be a better place with more women following their dreams. And having the courage to do that is the little piece that I want to help people with because it’s really rooted in belief for me. It’s the one thing I really believe in. So yeah,

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
well, you certainly embody it. And it’s one thing to believe it and it’s another thing to put your whole self in and to embody it and you’re shining really I mean there’s I don’t want to be to cute or whatever with my speech but like your shining example of following your dreams and how that can look like so thank you for sharing them with with us.

Kim Alexis Newton
Thank you. Yhey were deep question.

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
I like to go deep into the forest.

Kim Alexis Newton
How would you describe yourself

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
right and it’s like, it’s like wait, can I answer now? They asked me again tomorrow, or maybe in an hour,

Kim Alexis Newton
Cause they will change?

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Yeah, exactly. Well, I’m just capturing this small window of all of all that you are and all of that, that you were becoming

Kim Alexis Newton
Well thank you.

Music Insert

Priscilla Brenenstuhl
Thank you for listening, it’s an honor to have you share your time with me. Please join me next time on a search for order amidst chaos with Founder, CEO, Author and Board Director, Andrea Bonime-Blanc.
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